A CHAT ABOUT EVIL SPIRITS by Lawrence Millman

Excerpt from The Last Speaker of Bear: My Encounters in the North, collection of vignettes of a life spent traveling in the north from Alaska and Canada to Siberia, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway. Millman spent four decades since on some thirty-five expeditions in search of undeveloped landscapes, wildlife, and traditional cultures.

The Three O’Clock Cat by Gretchen Legler

When we first moved to rural Maine, like any newcomers, Ruth and I wanted to know things: where to buy groceries, how to get our internet hooked up, the best restaurants, where to shop for clothes and hardware, the hours for the local transfer station (the new name for the dump), recommendations for dentists andContinue reading “The Three O’Clock Cat by Gretchen Legler”

Begin Again

by Sandra Alcosser Because of open woodlandWith quivering sun patches A bird’s eye might observe a wormChiseling under earth’s Skin—because of granite bouldersFull of egg cases holding Spiderlings—because of purple berriesCome sweet in July—chokecherry Shadblow NankingHips and haws ripening— Branch nesters build summer nurseriesOn the face of our cabin—the same family Every year or theirContinue reading “Begin Again”

Two Nations Together Again at Boquillas

by Joe Holley Boquillas Crossing—On a cold, gray afternoon in Big Bend National Park, the rugged peaks and buttes wreathed by graceful low-hanging clouds, thirty or so American tourists are slouched against walls or sitting cross-legged on the hard floor of a small building manned by the National Park Service. We’ve all spent a portionContinue reading “Two Nations Together Again at Boquillas”

Each One a Bright Light by Lee Herrick

I was born outside of you, in Korea, in 1970, a year of upheaval and revolution. I was adopted and arrived in America in October 1971, at ten months of age, on your west coast, the San Francisco International Airport to be exact, where I was adopted by a White American couple. In the yearContinue reading “Each One a Bright Light by Lee Herrick”

Revolutionary Women: Nahui Olin

Nahui Olin (b. Mexico City, Mexico, 1893; d. Mexico City, 1978), an artist and writer, used hertalent in the 1920s to express her intellect and her sexuality and to break down genderbarriers at a time when Mexican women were severely constrained by law and social custom. Apainter and photographer who organized her own shows, OlinContinue reading “Revolutionary Women: Nahui Olin”

Write-Ins for President by Leath Tonino

I elect that bull elk in the Snake River. I elect that raven in Canyonlands National Park. I elect autumn moonlight on metal roofs. I elect the strand of barbed wire that fell from the post and is now woven into the tall brown grass. I elect the tall brown grass. I elect my neighbors’Continue reading “Write-Ins for President by Leath Tonino”

Still Birding While Black

Hey America, Was out birding a while back, black as I am and have always been, checking out my white-crowned sparrow honey hole, absorbing one of my fave winter birds. Fully engrossed in their melancholy leftover Northwoods songs and snazzy namesake stripe-headed plumages, I wasn’t expecting to have my identity challenged as I was identifyingContinue reading “Still Birding While Black”